I'm writing this post so that I can keep track of my progress and begin my attempt on the caveman regimen. I've never had acne my entire life. I'm 19 and I never struggled with acne ever, I would get compliments constantly on my effortless, flawless skin constantly. In February of this year I had my first ever break out and freaked the hell out, I didn't understand what was going on... When I look back now I actually only got my first ever pimple, it was so tiny and completely unnoticeable but it still greatly affected me. What's to come next was just silly on my part, I got one pimple which led me to acne.org and I was brainwashed into buying a ton of chemical exfoliants, cleansing products and different acne-fighting products.
I look back at my skin now and realise I have caused such detriment to my skin. My skin was never oily and hardly ever had any blemishes EVER. Sure to a certain extent you can blame hormones because my first breakout was after I had a panic attack that was extremely severe on a train travelling back home. Straight after that breakout I was washing my face twice a day, trying cleansers, switching toners, sticking to products for 12-weeks, my skin became my life and I was completely obsessed by it. Today I sat down and got very emotional, I looked in the mirror and my skin is an absolute MESS. whiteheads, blackheads, dripping in oil.
But what I forgot was, before my tiny breakout, my skin was virtually flawless. I never washed my face and picked a product up if it was near the shower while I was using it. I never thought twice about my skin and just let it do its own thing. What I've realised is I've been using so many products and obsessing so highly over my skin in the past few months that i've been causing the issues. I've been removing the protective layers and acid mantles of my skin, I went to a dermatologist and they actually SUGGESTED the caveman regimen. It's my family dermatologist and he just said, can you not remember before you started messing with your face that you never had issues with acne?
It clicked. I am ruining my own skin, it's such an oily mess because the pH is so unbalanced and me stripping away my natural barriers are causing an over-production in the sebum which is resulting in my acne. Later today I'm going to do a follow up with pictures, I'm going to do the caveman regimen, live the way I use to without any stupid harsh products. I've seen the success storys, I was living it with-out even realising. I'm going to post pictures later today and give an update everyday until my skin has returned to its normal self. I created this topic so that I can finally see with my own eyes the problems I have caused my skin and that if I leave it alone, it will do everything it needs to do, NATURALLY.
I'd like to hear other opinions on this topic, sorry if I seem very narcissistic, I'm just staying positive and staying hopeful that the only problem with my skin is me. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
Edit: For those who are unknown to the caveman regimen, it is ZERO washing. No products, for some not even water. Not even moisturizing, nothing, leaving your skin completly alone and letting it do it's own thing.
For me the food to acne connection is absolutely true but I also know that this definitely does not apply to everyone. Many people do not have this food to skin sensitivity so they could eat whatever they like without ever getting acne. Not me. I know this for a fact because I had breakouts for years not believing in this connection, when I took food into consideration and started knowing every single food that entered my system on a daily basis I found out exactly which food caused the acne and which didn't. I even found out which food strengthened my skin health! (Raw honey for me)
I wash my face daily though but haven't used any product or soap on my face for years.Those things I believe do not strengthen my skin health.
Day 3- It's day 3 on the caveman regimen, I've decided not to go extreme caveman and been allowing water to splash on my face in the shower. First of I'll start by saying I have combination skin, oily t-zone and dry cheeks, I used countless topical medications from epiduo to salicylic acid moisturizers as well as chemical peels and also tried calmer more natural products, nothing seemed to keep it at bay.
Anyone reading about this will be familiar with the acid mantle, as described briefly above, I'm aware water can also counteract the pH balance in the skin but the '' dead skin mask '' does not sound appealing which is why I have been allowing the water to splash across my face! Anyway lets get started on day 3 results and my expectations following the regimen.
First off.. I would say my skin was EXTREMELY oily when I started this regimen, 3 days in I would say oil production has been reduced by about 50% which I'm so happy about!!!! My skin is no where near as oily as it was when I was using my skincare products. My skin-tone already seems to have evened out dramatically and things are looking up. I have had a whitehead come up under my lip on the side of my chin but I was out last night and was drinking a lot, I'll blame it on the alcohol for now. I have noticed dead skin accumulating around my nose but nothing you would notice unless it had a flashlight on it. Apart from the whitehead things are looking up, maybe it's the alcohol, maybe it's a minor purge adjusting to the new regimen although 3-days in I cant see that happening so quickly.
Conclusion- Feeling happy so far about results, I wont let a small whitehead knock me back. Our skin is equipped to handle bacteria and acne if we allow it too. I will continue to update every three days and even if I gain success through the caveman regimen I will continue to update on a 3-day basis. Would love to hear feedback from other people that have done it!!!!!!
Ben
On 9/30/2016 at 0:07 PM, Nomoreacne19 said:For me the food to acne connection is absolutely true but I also know that this definitely does not apply to everyone. Many people do not have this food to skin sensitivity so they could eat whatever they like without ever getting acne. Not me. I know this for a fact because I had breakouts for years not believing in this connection, when I took food into consideration and started knowing every single food that entered my system on a daily basis I found out exactly which food caused the acne and which didn't. I even found out which food strengthened my skin health! (Raw honey for me)
I wash my face daily though but haven't used any product or soap on my face for years.Those things I believe do not strengthen my skin health.
Hey! I gave up dairy and gluten for a while, and although when I had a breakout they were a bit smaller, it just didn't seem necessary to cut it all out as I just didn't see vast improvement. I do believe in the theory though, Whenever I drink alcohol there seems to be a correlation between it and acne. I shouldn't be drinking on this regimen but I slipped up last night and maybe thats the reason for the whitehead that came up. I'll stick to it, thanks for the reply.
Day 4- Pimples and blemishes seem to disappear a lot quicker, I've noticed my skin tone has evened out but unfortunately has become a very dull colour, the creases underneath my nose have become noticeably darker in colour and I am having minor breakouts around my jaw and cheek area, my forehead has improved slightly, congestion is beginning to diminish and pimples are coming to the surface.
I believe I'm at the point of purging, my skin is thanking me by removing the products that were causing most harm by purging and bringing out all of the bad gunk that has been sat on my face for decades. I'm feeling optimistic, slight improvements but still continuing to break out. I will say I was hoping for more of an improvement but it's only day 4 on the regimen and I'm going to stick this out and update for 3 months. Hopefully It's improved enough in 3 months to begin glycol peels to remove the final scarring and say good bye to acne.
So yeah, day 4 not much to report, certain areas clearing up, (I think) certain areas breaking out and cheeks becoming very dry, struggling not to exfoliate but I will continue on this journey.
Day 5- Holy moly!! I woke up this morning and the reduction in redness on my acne scars is so GOOD!! they have almost disappeared overnight it seems. I have a new pimple just on the corner of my lip, its a bit sore, a bit red, but my skin is purging, a little breakout isn't going to stop or bother me. I'm going to update every other day now instead of once a day if anyone is reading my log. Oil reduction is improving, still getting oily, no where near as bad when I started the regimen though. Tap water does seem to dry my skin out, I might give it another week or so and if cheeks are still dry I might give the no water a go just to allow my skin extra help and time to repair. Update in two days!!
Day 5 - really struggling, throughout the day the oil seems to just lather on my t-zone and I get so shiny. The breakout I have had from going on the regimen is sore and I'm beginning to lose hope, I feel really really depressed right now, even had to phone samaritans, (suicide help line) really feel as if I'm coming to the end of my life. My self asteem is zero, cheating ex's and an upbringing were other siblings have been prioritised have had such a damaging effect on me and getting acne in the past few months has really taken its toll on my self asteem. Maybe this is just the way its suppose to end...
AMEN! I 100% Agree with you! My skin in the beginning was flawlessssss! I only washed my face once a day with a cleanser and I barely use any other products! During the summer is when I started using 100s of products that my natural oil from my face is gone/ protective layer. Now I've learned my lesson. I'm slowly trying to eliminate products out. I'm only using 3 products now. But I love this topic! Please do update!
I think caveman regime is a little too much. I would advice you to just wash you face once with mild cleanser for sensitive skin (something like from laroche posey). Or atleast try water only regime. I doubt that your face is battling acne because of the products that you use. There are other causes as well, which can be diet
On 10/4/2016 at 4:47 PM, benroberto said:Day 5 - really struggling, throughout the day the oil seems to just lather on my t-zone and I get so shiny. The breakout I have had from going on the regimen is sore and I'm beginning to lose hope, I feel really really depressed right now, even had to phone samaritans, (suicide help line) really feel as if I'm coming to the end of my life. My self asteem is zero, cheating ex's and an upbringing were other siblings have been prioritised have had such a damaging effect on me and getting acne in the past few months has really taken its toll on my self asteem. Maybe this is just the way its suppose to end...
Why do people even bother making these utterly pointless threads? You do know that it can take month(s) for the caveman regimen to start even working? So you're basically quitting after day 1...